Second Amendment Goes To The Ballot Box In Montana

Second Amendment Goes To The Ballot Box In Montana

By Tim Ravndal,

The battle began in Missoula Montana in 2016.  Moms Demand Action, paid for by George Soros and other anti-gun extremists, called for a Missoula ordinance against guns.  Missoula city officials agreed and passed an ordinance requiring background checks making an egregious violation on the rights of the citizens.

The City of Missoula passed the ordinance that requires all transfers of weapons within the city limits to undergo a full extensive background check on both purchaser and seller.

Related Article: Eliminating Local Government’s Ability to Regulate 2A?

Calls were immediately made from across the State to repeal the new ordinance. Montana Attorney General Tim Fox, after several months of political pondering, issued a legal opinion against the ordinance, therefore striking it down.

City of Missoula Attorney Jim Nugent, assisted by eight attorneys and nine professional staff members, took this fight to district court. The district court judge ruled in favor of the City of Missoula, prompting an appeal to the Montana Supreme Court by AG Fox.  That case is still pending.

The 66th Legislative Session in Montana pushed forward on 2 different bills to halt this attack on the 2nd Amendment.  The first bill, as expected, sailed through both republican majority houses on a party line vote.  The bill would further codify Article II Section 12 of the Constitution.  Even though the legislation passed both houses, Montana Governor Steve Bullock vetoed the bill.

In the wisdom born through political games, the leadership of the 66th Legislative Session put in place a backup plan.  The second bill, mirrored the first, but pushed forward using the referendum process.  This allowed the people, under the Constitution of Montana, to bypass Governor Bullock.

As soon as the language for LR130 was released for approval by the Montana Attorney General, the attacks from the anti-gun crowd escalated.  The 2nd Amendment rights of the people headed back into court.  A suit was filed with the Montana Supreme Court by the left-wing extremist anti-gun crowd. The suit claimed the language in the referendum was misleading and deceptive.

Helena Montana, several years ago, passed an ordinance that places illegal restrictions on citizens 2nd Amendment rights.  This ordinance is also in direct contravention of the Constitution. The violations of the rights of the people will be called into question if LR130 passes, and should negate the Helena ordinance. It will also put other local government officials across Montana on notice.

The whole issue at hand is the City of Missoula, and now other communities in Montana, are looking at expanding their authority beyond the limits of the Constitution of Montana; “Section 12. Right to bear arms. The right of any person to keep or bear arms in defense of his own home, person, and property, or in aid of the civil power when thereto legally summoned, shall not be called in question, but nothing herein contained shall be held to permit the carrying of concealed weapons.

Montana Supreme Court on August 27th 2019 issued its ruling on the matter and decided in favor of Attorney General Tim Fox.  The court ruled that the referendum language is legal and therefore LR130 is good to go to the voters of Montana in November 2020.

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